Cop-carrying device for braiding machines



Nov. 22, 1949 T. pNc 2,489,006

COP-CARRYING DEVICE FOR BRAII DING MACHINES Filed Aug. 9, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

149 17a //44 I75} I [5/ FIG. 3 E

lNl/ENTOR 77 7? B NCH A 7' TORNE Y Nov. 22, 1949 T. T. BUNCH 2,489,006

COP-CARRYING DEVICE FOR BRAIDING MACHINES Filed Aug. 9. 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III! 46 J'Zl A TTORNEV Patented Nov. 22, 1949 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE Tillman T. Bunch, Towson, Md assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 9, 1947, Serial No. 767,804

Claims.

This invention relates to cop-carrying devices for braiding machines, and has for an object the provision of new and improved cop-carrying devices for braiding machines.

A further object of the invention is the provision of new and improved Cop-carrying devices for braiding machines which include vibration-damping means to eliminate fatigue failure of the devices.

In the manufacture of filamentary articles wherein tubular sleeves are formed by braiding a plurality of strands together, cops of such strands are rotated in opposite directions by two groups of cop-holders of a braiding machine. In a machine of one type, one of the groups of cop-holders is rotated around an annular guide track, and this group of copholders are carried along the guide track by carriers which slide on the guide track. The guide track is provided With a series of slots to provide clearance for the strands of the other group of cop-holders during the interweaving of the strands; and as the carriers are moved over the slots at high rates of speed, vibrations in the carriers and the copholders are set up. These vibrations sometimes are great enough to cause fatigue failure of the cop-holders and carriers during a high speed operation thereby causing considerable damage to the braiding machine.

A cop-carrying device illustrative of certain features of the invention includes a draw bar, a cop-supporting tube, means including vibrationdamping material for mounting the tube rotatably on the draw bar, and a latch secured to the draw bar for retaining a cop on the tube.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description of a cop-carrying device forming a specific embodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, top plan view of a cop-carrying device illustrative of certain features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary horizontal section of a portion of the device, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary vertical section of a cop-carrying device forming another embodiment of the invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, a plurality of cop-holders, illustrated by copholder IQ, of a braiding machine are moved around an annular guide track I2 having strandclearing slots [4-44 therein by carriers illus trated by a carrier [6, which are moved along the guide track by mutilated discs, illustrated by a mutilated disc l8. Except for certain features of the cop-holders and the carriers, the braiding machine is substantially identical to those disclosed and claimed in G. I-Ienning Patent 1,895,462 and G. E. I-Ienning Patent 1,895,463, to which patents reference is made for a disclosure of the general features of the machine.

The carrier it includes a fiber guide shoe 2% (Fig. 2) carried by a shoe-holder 22 fastened toa bridge 24 (Fig. 1). The bridge connects the shoe-holder to a fiber roller 26 and a slotted fiber driving shoe 32. The mutilated disc 18 pushes the driving shoe 32 to move the carrier it along the guide track I2 at a high rate of speed, and, as the carrier is moved along the .26 are moved over the slots l4|4 in the guide tracks, vibrations are set up in the shoe, the roller and the bridge 24, all of which are strong enough to withstand the stresses resulting from the vibrations. V

The cop-holder Ill includes a draw bar 43 (Fig. 2) fitted into a bore 42 in the shoe-holder 22 and a tubular post 44 projecting from the shoe-holder. A bushing 4S is rotatably mounted on the necked down outer end of the tubular post, and has therearound a damping ring 48 for mounting a cop-supporting sleeve 49 resiliently. The damping ring 68 is composed of a cured polymerized chloroprene (neoprene) compound or other resilient cured elastomer material having high internal friction, such as vulcanized rubber or synthetic rubber-like compound.

A spacer 50 extending from the tubular post 64 spaces a radial-and-thrust bearing 52 on the draw bar 49, which has a nut 54 keyed to the outer end thereof. The bearing 52 is mounted in a counterbore 55 formed in a latch body 56, and is secured therein by an internal nut 51. A latch 58 for securing a cop 69 (Fig. 1) on the sleeve 49 (Fig. 2) is mounted pivotally in a slot 62 formed in the latch body, and is urged to a latching position by a compression spring 64. A plate (5% composed of the same material as that of the damping ring 48 damps vibration of the latch and eliminates noise therefrom, and a ring 68 composed of the same material as the plate 66 and the ring 43 supports the outer end of the sleeve as. A threaded plug it screwed into a tends loosely through a bore 14 formed in the sleeve to secure the sleeve to the latch body. A ring 15 composed of the same material as the ring 48 also supports the sleeve.

In the operation of the braiding machine, the cop-holder I is revolved around the axis of the braiding machine, and the cop 60 is urged against the latch 58 by centrifugal force. The latch transmits this force through the latch body 56, the internal nut 57, the bearing 52 and the nut 54 to the draw bar 40 so that none of this force is placed on the sleeve 49, which is relatively light in construction.

The rings 48, 68, and I6 and the plate 66 damp vibrational and shock forces between the draw bar 40 and the sleeve 49 having the cop 60 thereon so that fatigue failure of any of the elements of the cop-holder i0 and the carrier I6 is prevented. Furthermore, these damping elements quiet the operation of the braiding machine.

A cop-holder IIO (Fig. 13) forming an alternative embodiment of the invention is substantially identical with the cop-holder I0 (Figs. 1 and 2) except for a draw bar I40, a tubular container I44, a filler I45 composed of resilient material having high internal friction, such as a cured polymerized chloroprene (neoprene) compound or other material having similar characteristics, and a bolt I41. The bolt 14! is screwed into a tapped bore I5I formed in the tubular container I44 to secure the container to a shoe-holder I22. The filler M5 is molded adhesively over a knurled portion I52 of the draw bar I00, and permits relative longitudinal movement between the draw bar and the container. A pin I53 secured to the container extends loosely through a slot I54 in the draw bar to connect them together loosely.

A bushing I46 is rotatably mounted on an enlarged portion I56 of the draw bar I40, and a damping ring i48 identical with the damping ring 48 (Fig. 2) mounts a cop-supporting sleeve I49 (Fig. 3) resiliently. One end of a spacer I50 substantially identical with the spacer 50 (Fig. 2') abuts a shoulder Hi0 formed on the draw bar H0 (Fig. 3).

In the operation of the cop-holder I I0, longitudinal vibrations and shocks are dissipated by the filler I45 in passing between the draw bar H0 and the container I44, and radial vibrations are dissipated in passing between the sleeve I49 and the draw bar I40. Hence, vibrations and shocks to or from the draw bar M0 as well as vibrations and shocks to and from the sleeve I49 are dissipated.

The above-described cop-carrying devices are quiet in operation, and have much longer operating lives than cop-carrying devices hitherto known. Thus, the maximum operating speeds of braiding machines including devices embodying the invention may be higher than has been feasible in the past.

What is claimed is:

1. A cop-carrying device, which comprises a tube for supporting a cop, a support, antifriction means mounted rotatably on the support, and means including an element composed at least partially of vibration-damping material for connecting the tube to the antifriction means, whereby vibrations transmitted between the tube and the support are damped.

2. A cop-carrying device for braiders, which comprises a revolvable carrier, a post carried rigidly by the carrier, a tube for supporting a cop, a cylindrical support carried by the carrier, a thrust bearing mounted on the support, a latch body connected to the outer race of the thrust bearing, a latch carried by the latch body for holding a cop on the tube, a plurality of rings composed of vibration-damping material for supporting the tube on the latch body, a radial bearing mounted on the support, and a ring composed of vibration-damping material for connecting the tube to the radial bearing.

3. A cop-carrying device for braiders, which comprises a carrier, means for supporting a cop, a post provided with a roughened end portion for mounting the cop-supporting means rotatably, a tubular container secured to the carrier, and a filler composed of vibration-damping material formed in the tubular container around the roughened portion of the post for connecting the post resiliently to the container, whereby the cop-supporting means is connected resiliently to the carrier and forces therebetween are damped.

4. A cop-carrying device for braiders, which comprises a carrier, means for supporting a cop, a post provided with a roughened end portion for mounting the cop-supporting means rotatably, a tubular container secured to the carrier, and a filler composed of a cured polymerized chloroprene compound formed in the tubular container around the roughened portion of the post for connecting the post resiliently to the container, whereby the cop-supporting means is connected resiliently to the carrier and forces therebetween are damped.

5. A cop-carrying device for braiders, which comprises a carrier, means for supporting a cop, a post provided with a roughened end portion for mounting the cop-supporting means rotatably, a tubular container secured to the carrier, and a filler composed of a cured elastomer compound formed in the tubular container around the roughened portion of the post for connecting the post resiliently to the container, whereby the cop-supporting means is connected resiliently to the carrier and forces therebetween are damped.

TILLMAN T. BUNCH.

No references cited. 

